I'm on spring break. By all rights, I should be sitting on a beach while people bring me delicious drinks in hollowed out fruits, and probably also fan me with some kind of frond while doing so. What's that? Teachers don't get to live like that?

You are quite correct, and this is how I ended up spending MY spring break in a down jacket and boots, cleaning snow off of my car in the middle of April. There's no place like home, and it certainly wouldn't be home without wack-tastic weather.

I actually am pretty happy to be home (for the first time since Christmas!) and cooking in my mother's beautiful kitchen. It's like taking a trip to a foreign, exotic land called Counter Space, where horizontal surfaces abound, cupboard and shelf space is infinite, and no pot or pan is ever without it's lid. It's like living inside Mary Poppins' pocketbook.

What better place to finally tackle those tricky little macarons?

Sidenote: Are you even allowed to say "pocketbook" if you're not a card-carrying member of AARP, and are carrying said card in said pocketbook?

What can I say about macarons that hasn't already been said? They are light, delicate and divine, with elusive little feet that break the hearts of bakers the world over. And salted caramel? Indulgent, decadent, addictive.

I have been intimidated by macarons for a while now, and I even tried to convince myself that I didn't like them that much, in order to justify my avoidance. This construct crashed and burned the other day, when I sampled a salted caramel macaron on my way home from work (paid $3 for the pleasure), and realized I couldn't put it off anymore.

As it turns out, they are not so tricky after all! As long as you measure your ingredients by weight, not volume, and make sure to tap out any air bubbles, and preheat your oven perfectly, and say 5 Hail Marys, and go into a cornfield at midnight and sprinkle salt over your left shoulder (and caramel over your right), they will come out perfectly!

I'm fairly certain that this is only the beginning of a serious mac-attack here on Stir/Crazy. I know I'm about 2 years late to this party, but I'm here and I'm staying. At least for a little while. I think I'm going to stick with this 2-year lag. See ya in 2016, Cronut.